


the doll and the dog

by Hitsugi_Zirkus



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 08:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9226352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hitsugi_Zirkus/pseuds/Hitsugi_Zirkus
Summary: A new year is about to begin in Yumenosaki. The third years have graduated, and Mika isn't adjusting well. In the middle of hiding out in the handicrafts club room, his distress is found out by Oogami Koga of all people.





	

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my first enstars fic~   
> long story short, mika is my #1 best enstars boy and koga is #2 so i thought...what if i smush two best boys together... that and, a few months back, i saw a lot of unit swap fanart with mika being in undead so that just further fueled a lot of kogamika and undead!mika needs. 
> 
> WELP. i hope you give this fic and pairing a chance, even though this piece isn't particularly shippy(??) and there's actually past shumika and reikoga if you squint but this is meant to be the beginning of doki feelings between kogamika SO YEAH. hope you enjoy <3

Mika was very good about not allowing himself to be noticed. Whatever it took to keep others’ eyes off of him, he knew all the tricks to do it. So without much trouble, he was able to slip away from the entrance ceremony and shuffle into the school’s halls with nothing more than a ducked head and hunched up shoulders. 

The halls were empty. It gave the opportunity for Mika’s mind to just go blank, but on pure habit his feet followed the familiar trail of tiles to the club rooms. When he got to his destination, he wasn’t surprised to find the door locked -- not that that posed much of a problem for him. After all the part-time janitorial work he did in the school, Mika expertly jiggled the handle around and pushed into it just so -- and the loose lock clicked, the door swinging open. 

Inside the club room too, it was empty. Nothing else greeted him except familiar colors of folded fabric and rows of shining thread. The mannequins, for once, didn’t have work-in-progress costumes draped over them. The tables too, were wiped clean without a single scrap of thread or fabric, no pins or strips of ribbon, and the sewing machine was put away in the closet. The handicrafts club room was a space Mika had been in so often that it was practically his second home in Yumenosaki. And right now, Mika needed some semblance of being _home_.

Mika stepped inside. He breathed deep. 

Even after all the cleaning, the room carried the faint scent of Itsuki Shu. Or maybe he'd just been in the club room so much that he smelled like it. Either way, it was enough for Mika to exhale from his mouth shakily. As he walked to the table, stroking his fingers over the chipped wood of the chairs, he remembered the many afternoons and early mornings he spent here with Shu, sitting at his feet, helping with basic stitches for costumes, pinning all of the magnificent folds of the creations together.

Yumenosaki would never have the opportunity to have such beautiful costumes produced in this room anymore. 

Mika settled into a corner of the room behind the table, right beneath a window. The heavy rose curtains were closed, making the empty room look even lonelier with the lack of natural light that used to stream in in abundance. 

Lonely. Yeah, that word seemed about right to describe things. No more chatter, no more scoldings, no more songs, no more the whisper of fabric -- at school or at home, it was the same thing for Mika, and a loneliness he couldn’t ignore tore deeply in his heart. 

What was he supposed to do now? All he wanted to do was hide away from the world and never stand up. 

Mika’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, drawing his knees close to himself.

**From: Naru-chan** **  
** **To: Mika**

_ mika-chan where did u go??? r u ok?? _

Ah, so he hadn’t been completely unnoticed. That was the great thing about Arashi, he _always_ noticed, especially with Mika. That was probably why he kindly offered Mika to join Knights if he really wanted to, but Mika was  _ not going to think about being in another unit _ , not right now, not while in this room.

He thunked the back of his head against the wall.

**From: Mika  
** **To: Naru-chan**

_ sorry naru-chan, i just needed some air. i’ll come back before the ceremony ends, pinky promise! _

**From: Naru-chan  
** **To: Mika**

_ hmm be careful mika-chan, ilu ok?? xxx   
dont u get into trouble without me! if u end up getting scolded by sensei, i want in too!  _

Mika put his phone away. Even with the bit of respite that Arashi’s bright presence gave him, the bitter loneliness crept back all too quickly. Mika sighed, the end turning into a low groan as he raked his hands in front of his face.

New school year. New people. Soon would be the scouting fair, and so far Mika hadn’t touched a single application, unable to write down anything next to “unit”.

The backs of his eyes stung something fierce. His lips trembled.

_ Oshi-san… Help me, what do I do…? Oshi-san _ …

Mika sniffled, the tears started pouring fresh and hot from his eyes in an ugly mess. He wiped uselessly at them with the long sleeves dangling from his uniform, but the tears and snot kept coming. Ugh, he could hear Shu’s words now if he saw him…

“Oi, whatcha doin’ makin’ such an ugly face all by your lonesome?”

No, not like that. Maybe that same tone, but Shu talked a  _ lot  _ more elegantly and his voice was… Mika blinked, opening his eyes to an unfamiliar pair of shoes. He followed the line of the legs and wrinkled uniform, up and up to meet glaring amber eyes.

Mika jolted.  _ O-Oogami Koga!!  _ “N-naah, how d-did ya get in here?” Mika’s voice was saturated with tears, so his demand was less convincing than usual. He shot his gaze down, raking his bangs in front of his eyes. 

In contrast, Koga’s voice boomed from above him. “Haah? I was late to the ceremony, and when I finally came in, I saw you sneakin’ around the halls. When I followed you, I ended up here.” 

Mika winced at Koga’s words. He always talked like he was scolding somebody, and even in his explanation, it was like he blamed Mika for him wasting time following him. Even so, he didn’t seem in any hurry to leave.

“So?” Koga said. “What’re you doing in here? You’re all cryin’ and stuff. Did someone spook you again or somethin’?” 

Mika frowned, hands frozen over his face. He clenched his throat to hold his sobs down. It was humiliating enough to be caught crying, but now he had nowhere to run and -- and  _ Koga  _ was making weird small talk with him. Why? To embarrass him? Or -- comfort him? He never could quite pin Koga down as a nice person or not, but he seemed to have that same “scowling outside/soft inside” demeanor that Shu had, even if to a wilder degree. And really, once Mika made a comparison like that, even if loosely, he relaxed somewhat.

“No, I’m -- I’m hidin’ out. When I started thinkin’ of Oshi-san, I jus’ -- I couldn't help it--” 

“ _Ughhh_ , I can’t understand you if you’re all mumblin’ and shit! Get your hands outta your face and speak up!” 

Mika shook his head vigorously, curling deeper into himself. He heard Koga growl in irritation, and his shoes squeaked on the floor like he’d walk away. But then there was a huff, a sound of forced patience, and then Koga’s presence came closer. When Mika looked up, he saw Koga sitting right next to him, his posture a lot more open and casual than Mika’s little ball. 

Prepared for some new scolding, Mika sidled closer to the wall. But Koga’s expression wasn’t as severe as before. He still had a light scowl drawn on his lips and brow, but his eyes weren’t as sharp. He tilted his head like he was waiting on Mika to realize he meant no harm.

“Hunh,” he huffed, voice at a more reasonable volume. “You said somethin’ about that mentor of yours. That’s right, he graduated with the rest of them, huh?”

Mika’s heart pressed in on itself painfully. He tried to just nod in lieu of letting anything else slip, but he was cracking horribly at the edges. A sob managed to escape, as did several fresh tears. 

Koga looked shocked through Mika’s blurry vision, and he clicked his tongue, waving his hands like that would help. “H-hey, dontcha start that cryin’ again! God, I get it, I get it! Ya miss him, right? That’s why you’re this wrecked?”

“V-Valkyrie… S’just me an’ Oshi-san,” Mika cried, scrubbing at his eyes with his sleeves. “Oshi-san was...always there fer me, an’ I don’t… I don’t know what t’ _ do _ … How t’hold up Valkyrie, if I can even perform in this school anymore… N-ngh…” 

There was a slight pause, with only Mika’s sniffing filling the silence. Then Koga exhaled, as if he just finished a long train of thought. “Hn. I get it,” he said again, but this time it sounded like he meant it. He made an annoyed sound and patted himself down, digging in his pockets before he pulled out a wrinkled handkerchief and handed it to Mika. With a sniff, Mika accepted and blew his nose. 

Koga went on with a slight shrug, “UNDEAD lost two members this year. Guess units shiftin’ and stuff is just expected to happen with graduations. S’annoyin’, but that vampire bastard always did what he wanted, so maybe UNDEAD can actually get stuff done now." He glanced over at Mika with a steady look. "You might be capable of some good things too. I heard you kicked fine’s ass at  _ tanabata _ ; you got skills.” 

A blush heated Mika’s cheeks at the praise. He snagged onto one other thing from Koga’s words: Vampire… Oh, right. Mika never really talked to Rei Sakuma before, but through Shu, he had an idea of who he was.

“He was yer leader,” Mika pointed out. “Dontcha feel lonely without 'im?” 

“Well,  _ fuck _ , I mean…” Koga struggled for words now that the questions were flipped to him. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. I -- I really looked up to that bastard, yanno? I mean, I talk shit about him, but he,” Koga ran a hand through his messy hair, “when it came down to it, he really...looked after us. Right?”

Mika blinked in confusion at the question (so soft, so  _ vulnerable _ ) being directed at him, but he nodded anyway. Koga’s handkerchief was still pressed to his nose. He couldn’t smell much with his snotty nose, but what he could pick up wasn’t unpleasant. 

So he wasn’t the only one who lost someone important. Well, of course not. A lot of the ones left behind by their beloved upperclassmen had to pick themselves up and take stock of what they had to do.  Valkyrie was good at doing that, always amazing at being able to bloom beautifully, even in the deepest darkness. No matter how many times they were broken down, Valkyrie rose from the ashes time and again with elegance and beauty. 

Being able to take pride in such a formidable unit… Mika was going to miss it. But part of him also wondered if he really had to say goodbye to that feeling, that accomplishment, that  _ strength _ .

Something sharp suddenly grabbed at his cheek. Mika winced, a startled cry leaving his lips. Koga’s face was right against his, and when exactly he got so close Mika wasn’t sure. But his lips were pressed on Mika’s cheek, his teeth biting into his skin. 

“N-naah, wh-what’re ya doin’--? Th-that hurts!” 

“Shut up, I’m  _ tryin’  _ to comfort you.” Koga bit down again, his teeth pinching at Mika’s cheek, then his nose, then the skin over his jawline. 

_ He really is like a dog. But isn’t he supposed t’be lickin’ instead?  _ Mika’s face grew warm, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the sting of the bites or his own embarrassment -- perhaps both. He trembled, but found no malicious intent to Koga’s biting. In a  _ very  _ weird, painful way...it was comforting. 

Koga gazed at him, so close there was no way he couldn’t distinctly make out the mismatched shade of Mika’s eyes (or perhaps they matched in redness now from all the crying), and tsked. “You’re so skinny,” he huffed, “I can’t bite down on a damn thing.” He tilted his head more, moving to claim Mika’s bottom lip between his teeth.

Their lips brushed from the action, breaths mingling. Mika closed his eyes tightly then opened them again. Koga already pulled back after a particularly hard nip, leaving Mika’s lip throbbing, their eyes locked together. His heart was beating so loud that he was sure Koga had to hear it too. But, save for the tint of red along his cheeks, Koga didn't seem bothered by what just happened. His eyes held a particular intensity that held Mika in place.

“If you feel like cryin’ again, just look for me, got it? I ain’t no Oshi-san, but -- I’ll look after you.” 

Confusion. Confusion and gratitude and apprehension and _giddiness_ all bubbled up inside Mika’s tiny chest, but he found himself nodding.

When Koga grinned at him, it reached his eyes. It was the first time Mika had seen such an expression on him; it was warm, and kind. So he really was the nice sort. A small smile tugged at the corners of Mika’s lips, a blush still staining his face. 

“Hehe... Thank ya kindly~”

**Author's Note:**

> please these two are so cute together please ship them. i have. LOTS OF HCS about kogamikas after graduation and coping without shu and rei, mostly self-indulgent stuff. i just. undead!mika..... 
> 
> eventually i hope to get koga's character down better lol i don't usually write such angry characters orz
> 
> find me on twitter @fuwajellyfish


End file.
